Arts & Sciences
Riddle 49
Translated by Benjamin Thorpe (1842) · From Exeter Book Riddles (selection)
I know in its dwelling fast
one standing,
deaf, dumb,
who by day often swallows,
through a crafty one's hand,
gifts greedily.
Sometimes to the dwellings
the dark servant,
swart and sallow-faced,
sends others
under his palate,
than gold more precious,
which nobles
oft desire,
kings and queens.
I that kind now
will not name,
which so for its use,
and for its state does,
that here the dumb
senseless wolf
first swallows it.
Codex Note
Thorpe's Riddle L (first series, pp. 380–441, in his Codex Exoniensis, 1842); ASPR Riddle 49.
Cite this poem
MLA
Anonymous (Old English). “Riddle 49.” Translated by Benjamin Thorpe. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-english/274/.
Chicago
Anonymous (Old English). “Riddle 49.” Translated by Benjamin Thorpe. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-english/274/.
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